Vision

Our vision is to see a cultural change in the way individuals think about their lives and how they can contribute to the social, financial and environmental well being of the planet.

Mission

Sustainability or Corporate Responsibility is a way of doing business that aligns the interests of shareholders with the interests of planet and society. In times of increasing consumer awareness, stakeholder pressure, and soaring energy prices, a growing number of forward thinking companies are leveraging the business opportunities emerging from sustainability. Targeted social and environmental strategies can save costs and enhance long-term revenues. Opportunity areas include increased brand value, employee retention and productivity, higher operational efficiency, and lowered business risk.

Transition Plus supports organizations on their road to a more sustainable and prosperous future through a coaching approach. The Transition Plus model engages employees and management in the process leading to more actionable solutions and advanced organization-wide buy-in.

We will do this by:

Providing experienced sustainability coaches to educate and empower individuals to visualize and shape their organization’s sustainable strategies through an understanding of a core index of proven value drivers that result in an ROI

Engaging individuals in taking an active role in the process through a series of interactive workshops (charrettes) to realizing their goals

This will result in a relevant, actionable Sustainable Futures™ Plan that finds new ways to strengthen what an organization does best.

The Executive Team

John W. Walker

President & CEO, Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions

As a visionary with a long history of building successful professional service firms and through his entrepreneurial spirit, John Walker launched Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions. For almost two decades John has led the Canadian operations of a major international outplacement firm. John has travelled extensively throughout North America coaching executives and middle managers on career management and career reorientation. John has led coaching teams with several technology clients in twelve States in the USA.

Many of John's efforts have been documented and serve as internal best practice policy today amongst many of these technology leaders. John was awarded The Golden Circle Award for his achievements (2005) he has exceptional insight into strategic partnerships executive placement and boardroom survival in an era of limited corporate loyalty.

John's determination and energy have provided Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions as a growing leader in sustainability coaching. His contacts with Canadian Associations and the expansion of these relationships have allowed many corporations, retailers, municipalities etc. to learn the true meaning of sustainability and how to start their journey.

John is a respected member of PEO (Presidents of Enterprising Organizations). He also served as a board member at the Toronto Chapter of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) and has spent several years on the Board of Directors of the Empire Club of Canada, bringing in high level speakers.

John has been with AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) for two years as the Senior Advisor, focused on large U.S.A./Canada Trade Events (included International speakers).

John is currently working as the International Trade Commissioner for Arizona. He is also working with Michigan, Nevada and as you can see by the video below, Florida (In conjunction with U.S. Commercial Services.)

John's current client base includes companies in:

South Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Florida

John is president of the Global Trade and Investment Association www.gtia.ca and www.gtiaevents.ca. Transition plus has become a leader in international trade missions as well as U.S.A.

Tony Martino, MBA

Executive Vice-President, Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions

Tony Martino, Executive Vice President of Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions Inc. brings over 30 years experience in multiple disciplines and is a leader in culture change and change management.

Prior to joining TPSS, Tony was vice president, Business Operations and Chief Privacy Officer for Xerox Canada. In that role, he was responsible for providing leadership to critical operational processes including customer order and fulfillment, integrated supply chain management, customer risk management, customer payment, customer contact centres and customer relationship/satisfaction. He also had responsibility for strategies, deployment and implementation of Xerox Canada’s Lean Six Sigma framework focused on business process improvement and business change.

Tony also served as vice president of Human Resources, Communications, and Corporate Affairs for Xerox Canada. In that role he provided leadership to the people processes overseeing all strategies, policies and practices related to human capital management, employee relations, industrial relations, education and training, internal communications, organization design and quality. He also held the position of vice president of Client Operations responsible for the operation of Xerox Canada’s outsourced services business. His wealth of experience is complemented by other senior level positions in finance, marketing, human resources, administration, and operations.

Tony has been a member of the Board of Governors of the National Quality Institute of Canada, a board member of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, and is currently on the board of Skills for Change. He is a frequent speaker at conferences.

Tony holds a BA in commerce and French from the University of Toronto. He also has an MBA in international business and finance from the Schulich School of Business, York University.

Robert (Bob) Canuel CHRP SHRP

Senior Vice-President, Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions

Bob Canuel is a bilingual Senior Human Resources Professional with over 35 years of successful business experience. He has worked in a variety of sectors ranging from Food and Dairy, Retail, Plastics and Automotive. Bob's experience and leadership in all parts of the HR function has provided him with a wealth of practical and successful knowledge. He was selected as Ombusman for Kraft Foods Ltd , successfully negotiated numerous collective agreements in various parts of Canada in both official languages, lead the start-up of various Greenfield operations, and successfully lead the downsizing of a variety of Operations across Canada for both Kraft and Hallmark Canada.

Bob has taught Human Resources and Labour Management courses at community colleges ( St Lawrence College) and has been a speaker at numerous business and HR conferences. He has been active as a board member and chair of numerous not for profit organizations. He has also been recruited to sit on publically traded and privately held organizations over the past 11 years. Along with his board work in “For Profit “ organizations , Bob currently sits on the board of directors of HRPA and chairs their Governance and Nominating committee. Bob took early retirement from his position as Vice President Human Resources Hallmark Canada in January 2010. He opened his management consulting business in September of 2010. Bob is a graduate of Concordia University and has continued his professional development though numerous programs with a special emphasis on governance.

Project Team

Sustainability Coaches

Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions provides a pool of full- and part-time coaches who bring a well-rounded combination of skills to the table: All our coaches are experienced business professionals with solid backgrounds in business strategy, consulting, and a post-graduate education. Each of our coaches commands a specific discipline including change management, human resources development, marketing communications, environmental science, and international development all of which are relevant to sustainable business development and —depending on the nature of the engagement and the particular client— will demand a greater or smaller priority in each project. We assemble our project teams accordingly to achieve the best outcomes.

Our coaches share the passion for sustainable business development and the fundamental value that doing good for the planet and the community means doing the right thing to better your business.

Advisory Board Members

Allan N. Ebedes

Founder and CEO
Management Mentors International Inc. (MMI)

Allan immigrated to Canada from Johannesburg, South Africa in 1973. He earned an MBA degree from the University of Toronto, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant while articling with Coopers & Lybrand, Chartered Accountants.

However, accounting did not fulfil Allan’s entrepreneurial spirit and he became a partner in Stuarts Furniture & Appliances, a small furniture and appliance chain, which grew significantly and was subsequently sold to The Brick.

In 1979 Allan started the Toronto School of Business, a career college. Under the banner of International Business Schools, the company grew to become the largest chain of private career colleges in Canada, with 50 locations coast-to-coast training more than 10,000 adult students per year for new and exciting careers. Ten years later, Allan took the company public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Under his leadership, International Business Schools trained over a quarter of a million adult students.

Allan is the founder and CEO of Management Mentors International Inc. (MMI), a corporate training and development organization that is dedicated to “helping managers build better businesses and better lives”.

In August 2005, Allan was appointed president & CEO of the National Quality Institute (NQI) and the Canada Awards for Excellence under the Vice-Regal Patronage of the Governor General of Canada. NQI is a not-for profit organization with the mission of “Helping Canada to Live and Work Better”. NQI developed the Canadian Framework for Organizational Excellence and the Framework for a Healthy Workplace. As part of those frameworks, are specific criteria for sustainability, the environment, and governance. NQI has developed the unique and leading four-level Progressive Excellence Program (NQI PEP ®) that has helped hundreds of organizations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors on their excellence, quality and sustainability journey.

Allan serves on the faculty of York University and the Schulich School of Business. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Education and is a member of the World Presidents’ Organization.

Allan is passionate about people and is dedicated to helping them achieve their full potential and committing organizations to strive for excellence.

Michael Jantzi

President and founder
Jantzi Research

Michael Jantzi, President and founder of Jantzi Research, has been active in the social investment field since 1990. Michael is one of Canada’s leading spokespersons on social investment and corporate social responsibility issues and regularly appears in the national media. He also contributes articles about social investment and related topics to publications throughout the country. Michael is the co-author of The 50 Best Ethical Stocks for Canadians: High Value Investing, published by MacMillan Canada. In June 2001, Michael was the recipient of an Ethics in Action Award in recognition of his significant contribution to corporate social responsibility and social investment in Canada. Jantzi Research won the 2006 Capital Markets Award for Sustainable Investment & Banking, awarded by the GLOBE Foundation and The Globe and Mail as part of the prestigious GLOBE Awards for Environmental Excellence program.

Michael is a director of Canada’s Social Investment Organization and a member of the Investment and Finance Committee of the TIDES Canada Foundation. He mentors social entrepreneurs through his involvement in the Ashoka Support Network. Michael also sits on the practitioner advisory council for the Research Network for Business Sustainability, overseen by the Richard Ivey School of Business, and is a member of the grant review panel at the Rotman School of Management. He holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and Dalhousie University.

Dr. Robert K. Logan

Chief Scientist

Bob Logan has a variety of experiences as an academic involved in research in physics, biology, environmental science, linguistics, industrial design and media studies. He was also active in the business world operating a computer training and a Web development company from 1982 to 2000 through which he did extensive consulting in knowledge management. He was active in politics from 1974 to date in which he served as an advisor to PM Pierre Ellliott Trudeau and various federal cabinet ministers.

He attended MIT earning a B.Sc. in 1961 and a Ph.D. He was a physics professor from 1968 to 2005 and is now Professor Emeritus at the U of T. He held various cross-appointments during his career among them OISE, Dept. of Curriculum (1984-2005). Visiting Prof., Inst. of Communications, Sabbatical Visitor Technion 1973, Hebrew U., Jerusalem, 1982, Inst. for Environmental Studies, U of T (1975-80), Faculty of Environment Studies, York U. (1993-5) and Assoc. Prog. Dir., New College, U of T (1974-76).

He is currently Chief Scientist at Beal Inst. OCAD and a senior fellow at the Inst. of Bio-complexity & Informatics U. of Calgary, and the Origins Inst. McMaster U. He was named as one of the top 30 lecturers in Ontario by TV Ontario in 2005, was awarded the Susan K. Langer Prize for his book, The Sixth Language and was a member of the Board of Media Ecology Association (2001-2004).

Peter Love

Peter Love recently formed Love Energy Consultants Inc. to foster culture change as part of his commitment to advancing sustainability. He provides strategic advice as a consultant, associate, facilitator or director on an individual basis or as an associate with selected firms. He recently joined Transition Plus Sustainability Solutions as an Associate.

In 2005, Peter was recruited as Ontario’s first Chief Energy Conservation Officer with the Ontario Power Authority where his focus was on providing leadership in electricity conservation and advancing a conservation culture in Ontario. During his term, he worked with local partners across the province to recognize leadership at over 550 events which resulted in over 400 million earned media impressions. He was a leader in setting among the most aggressive targets for conservation in North America and reported that Ontario met its first conservation target of a five percent peak demand reduction by the end of 2007. In his first 18 months, he was responsible for the design and delivery of 10 conservation programs covering all sectors, most using non-OPA delivery agents.

Previously, Peter was the Executive Director of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, co-founder of the Summerhill Group and was responsible for managing the R-2000 and Energy Star New Homes programs. An active volunteer, Love serves on the National Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency and the Greening Greater Toronto Task Force; previously, he was Chair of the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association and co-founder of the Movement Against Acid Rain.

No stranger to the concept of a “cultural shift” in the Province, early in his career Peter worked as a project coordinator for Pollution Probe with the team that developed the 3Rs campaign “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.

In recognition of Peter’s commitment to sustainable buildings and energy efficiency, he was inducted into the EnerQuality/R-2000 Hall of Fame and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sustainable Buildings Canada.

Peter has an MBA and BA from the University of Toronto and recently completed the Directors Education Program from the Institute of Corporate Directors.